Ball-cock.



T. W. RYAN.

BALL COCK.

APPLICATION man MAR. Q 1914.

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nesses.

THOMAS W. RYN, 0F CONCORD -J UN CTON, MASSGHUSETTS.

,nant-cocu incasso.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7, 19315.

Application filed March 9, 1914. Serial No. 823,260.

To LZZ vwhom t may concern Be it known that l, THOMAS W. RYAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Concord Junction, county of Middlesex,

State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Ball-Cocks, of which the following description, in connection withy the accompanying drawing, is-a specification, like characters on the drawing repref senting like parts. v

This invention relates to improvements in ball cocks and comprises broadly the production of a ball cock which will work effectively and quietly whether used upon high or'low pressure fluid supply systems.

It is Well 'known that the pressure varies in di'erent water systems and in fact in the dierent portions of the same system, as, for example, in the diferent levels of high buildings so that certain portions are under high pressure and others under low pressure. lt has been found that ball cocks adapted for use upon the higher pressuresare ill adapted for use on low pressures, and that ii a high pressure ball cock `for a lush tank is used upon very low lpressure systems the delivery will be so slow as to require an undesirably long period to fill the tank. 'It is further found that unless a large ball; is used in such cases the valve will chatter or sing when closing. @n the other hand, if a bali cock adapted for low pressure is used upon a high pressure system the' rapid flow oi' water will cause an undesirable noise.

So far as ll am aware no ball cock has hitherto been devised lwhich has been adapted to deliver fluid to a tank from either high or low pressure systems with substan-.u tially equal eliciency and noiselessly in each case.

@ne of the objects of the present invern tion is to produce a ball cock which may be readily adjusted for high or tor low pressure systems without the necessity of using balls of different sizes.

another object of the invention is to provide means vlier silencing the delivery of the fluid through a ball cock which is used upon high pressure system and which means.

not unduly' retard the flow of the lluid pressure when applied to a low pressure system.

inother object ,of the'invention is to provide a simple and effective means whereby the hall will be supported above the bottom of the tank when the fluid in the tank is drawn 0E, so that the ball will be ke t clear and free from contact with any se iment which may be present in the bottom of the tank.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified ball cock in which the valve casing and pivotal support for the ball lever may be conveniently cast in a single piece and which may be assembled and dismantled conveniently.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ball cock casing with a series of integral members which may be bored at a single operation to provide accurately alined bearings for the valve piston,whereb the sticking or jamming of the valve will be obviated.

Other objects of the invention and the nature thereoic will more fully appear from the accompanying description and drawings and willbe particularly pointed out in the anneXed claims.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a ball cock embodying the preferred form of my invention, the piston being shown in elevation; Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified and simplified form of ball cock embodying certainfeatures of the invention; F ig.,3 is an elevation of the end of the valve casing showing the adjustable bearing for the ball lever which operates the valve; Fig. 4 is a like view of a modied form; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 5.-5, Fig. 2; F 6 is a sectional view of the piston taken on the line 6-46, Fig. l.

The preferred form of the invention illustrated in Fig. l of the drawing comprises a casing l having screw threads 2 at its inlet end adapted to be .engaged by a coupling el to secure it to an inlet pipe 4. rEhe barrel of said casing is preferably cylindrical in itorm and has a spherical enlargement 5 to ward its opposite end which terminates in apair of extensions 6, forming bearings for the pivots i?, 8, of a ball lever 9 which maybe connected to a ball (noc'shofwn) by a rod ll in the usual manner and which is adapted to operate suitable piston valve l0. The casl is preferably provided with a nlshaped integral stand l2 adapted to be secured en the edge or the tank l?) by screws lll or other suitable fasteners and with a discharge pipe preferably depending :trom the spherical enn f A largement 5 .having an internally screw threaded end to receive a pipe (not shown) leading to near the bottom of the tank. rlhe spherical portion 5 of the casing' desirably may be provided With a Web or partition 16 adapted to form a bearing for the piston 10, and also to deilect the flow of the Huid to the discharge orifice, the eductive action of the stream serving to prevent leakage through the outer bearing. The casing thus described may be cast in a single piece, suitable cores being provided to give the interior thereof substantially the desired shape. It may then be bored directly from one end to the other providing a series of bearings 20, 21 for the piston accurately alined with the cylindrical portion invvhioh the valve reciprocates'. l

rlhe opposite or inlet end of the valve case is preferably provided With a ground conical bearing 25 adapted to coperate with a complementary tapered bearing 26 on the end of the inlet pipe to clamp the conical end of a valve seat rmly in place. The valve seat may desirably be provided with a cylindrical portion 27 fittingl snugly Within the oylindrical bore of the casing; the inner. end of the valve seat may be provided With a groove 28 adapted .to engage a relatively soft valve member 30 desirably of leather or rubber secured to the end of the piston 10 in any suitable manner as by means of a screw 31.

In order to silence the lovv of Water through the ball cock when the same is usd upon high pressure systems and yet to provide for an effective dischargevvhen it is used upon a louT pressure system, the portion of the piston within thecylindrical casing is desir-ably provided with a pair of series of baiile plates er deiecting Wings 32, 33, which are preferably made integral with the piston and disposed alternately on opposite sides thereof, the adjacent ends overlapping to provide sinuous channels for the passage of the fluid through the cylindrical lportion of the easing so that the fluid passin'through the casing will take thelcourse 1n 1 cated by the arrows in Fig. 1. It will be noted that these baie plates, which are located alternately on opposite sides of the piston, preferably above and below, overlap only a relatively small distance and that the chambers between the baille plates of each series 'are relatively Wide and long so that l the Water is permitted toflow quite freely along the sinuous course indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1 When it is under a relatively loW pressure. When hovv'ever the water is under a high pressure so that it is being forced rapidly through the delivery chamber it is divided' into two streams one on each side of the piston. The force exerted'against the badle plates tends to divert these streams into spirals traveling in oppodicated by the arrows in F ig. 1.

"arrangement sufficiently retards the velocityy Vthrough the end of the casing. The end of site directions around the stem of the piston with a considerable centrifugal force. These spiral streams meet alternately on one side and the other of the piston, thus opposing each other and forming eddies which retard the otherwise rapid ilovv of the Water from the discharge orifice and render the discharge end of the tank substantially noiseless. It is found that the amount of such interference or retardation of fluid increases substantially in proportion to the' increase of pressure-or heat of the Water so that for high pressures the amount of retardation due to the interfering spiral streams is much greater than the retardation eected under low pressure When the Water flows more nearly in the undulating path inlt has therefore been found in practice that thisk or flow of the fluid in high pressure systems to cause a substantially noiseless discharge Without so impeding the progress of the fluid When used upon low pressure systems as to unduly delay the relling of the tank.

The portion ofA the piston Within the spherical part of the casing is preferably of full diameter and ts tightly inthe bearings `20 and 21,'thereby preventing leakage the piston is desirably provided With av flat integral. extension 40 having a hook shaped portion 4l providing a slot 42 adapted to receive a shaft or stud 43 carried by arms 44 of the bell lever 9. I" rlhe hook l shapedportion is preferably provided with a strengthening rib 45. The end of the pis'- ton may desirably be provided With eXtensions having shoulders 46 adapted to engage the arms 44, of the ball lever to limit the downward movement of the ball in the tank, and to retain it above the bottom thereof free from contact with the sediment Which may be deposited in the tank.

It Will be noted that When the .pivot 'l' of the ball lever is in `its lowest position when' being used on a low pressure system the piston, 10 Will have a longer traverse before the shoulders 46 engage the arms 44 of the ball 115 lever than When the ball lever is pivoted in the high position when used upon the high pressure system. lt Will therefore be obvious that the greater Withdrawal of the piston 10 when operating upon the low pres- 12o sure system will permit the Water to How more freely than when the traverse of the piston isinore limited.' This is an important' feature in a ball cock which is adapted to be placed upon either a high pressure 125 or a low pressure system. The shaft 43 may be provided with anti-friction rings 47.

The extensions 6, of the casin l may be provided with depending' ears aving oppositely drilled bearings 50 and 51, `adapted 13o nreasvo to receive the pivots l of said ball lever 9 which desirably may be screw-threaded into the arms la ot the lever 9. The bearings 50 desirably` are located at a distance below the axis of the piston just sutlicient to cause the axis of the shaft or stud 4:3 to cross the longitudinal axis of the piston `whereby the ball lever will act upon the piston in a substantially straight line coincident with the axis Aof the piston, thereby eliminating as nearly as possible all frietional resistance of the piston in its bearings and permitting the application of the maximum power to open and close the valve which is desirable when the same is used upon a high pressure systemf rlFhe bearings 5l are preferably arranged substantially in the plane of the axis of the piston s o that when the ball'lever is mounted in these bearings the shaft or stud 43 will lie in the 'upper portion of the slot 4t2 in the pistonl extension and Will act upon the piston eccentrically of its axis. rlhis provides a cam-like action which will increase the lrictional resistance of the piston suiiiciently to prevent the chattering or singing of the valve upon closing when it is used in low pressure systems. By reason ol. this arrangement the improved ball cock may be used on either high or low pressure lsystems without the necessity of using balls of different sizes.

lf desired the bearings 50, 51 may be connected by a slotl 52 las illustrated in Fig. 4,'

thus making it unnecessary to dismantle the lever to eilect the adjustment of the pivots, it being suilicient to partially unscrew the pivotal screws until the smaller portions thereof may be moved inthe slot 52.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 2 dilers from that illustrated in Fig. 1 in that the valve seat 27 is relatively long, extending into the spherical portion of the casing, and in that the deflecting and silencing ribs ofthe piston have been omitted. lt further diilers in that no means are providedfor adjusting the pivotal supports for theball lever 9. This modified form of ball cock is more cheaply manufactured and may be used in many instances especially whereit is not important that the noise of the running Water should be subdued.

lt is to be understood that while l have illustrated this invention in the preferred ormit may be embodied in other constructions without departing from the 'spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A ball cock comprising a relatively long casing having a cylindrical chamber provided with inlet and outlet orifices, a lvalve seat at the inlet end of said casing, a piston journaled in the other end of said casing and having a cylindrical stem terminating in avalve adapted to engage said valveseat, a series of bae plates alternately arranged at intervals within said cylinder on opposite sides of the piston and overlapping attheir adjacent ends whereby the 4waterl is caused to ow through said chamber in a divided stream, the paths of which follow combined sinuous paths and intersecting spiral courses whereby the fluid by interference and-eddying causes greater retardation ofA the tlow upon high pressure than upon low pressure..

2. A ball cock comprising a relatively long casing having a cylindrical. chamber with outlet and inlet orifices, a valve seat, a series of bae plates on said piston arrangedalternately upon opposite sides thereof and overlapping each other at their adjacent ends whereby the duid by interference and eddying causes greater retardation of the liow upon high pressure than upon low pressure.

3. A ball cock comprising a relatively long casing having an inlet vorice at .one end and a lateral outlet orifice adjacent its other end, said/casing being bored longitudinally from said inletoriice through the opposite end to form a piston bearing and a chamber of equal diameter, a-valve seat in the inlet end of said chamber, a piston-having a bearing of equal diameter to said bore,'journaled in the opposite end of said casing and having a reduced stem terminating in a lvalve adapted toengage said valve seat, a series of segmental cylindrical baille plates on" said pistonarranged alternately upon opposite sides thereof, tting closely said chamber and overlapping at their adjacent'ends whereby the fluid by interference and eddying causes greater retardation of the flow. upon high pressure than upon low pressure.

4. A ball cock comprising a valve casing having an inlet orifice and alateral outlet orifice, parallel integral extensions beyond said outlet providedwith a plurality of cylindrical journal bearings connected by slots narrower than the diameter of said bearings, a valve seat within said casing, a coperating piston valve havingl an oset slotted extension, a ball lever having a member slidably seated in the slot in the piston extension and adapted to engage the walls of the slot in the piston either in the axial plane of the piston or eccentrically thereof, and removable screw threaded fulcrum members having portions of diderent diameter adapt-f parallel extensions beyond saidv outlet pro-v vided with journal bearings, a valve seat Within said casing, a eopereting piston Valve having ar slotted extension and shoulders edjacent to said slot, e bell lever pivotaly mounted in said easing extensions and .hav-

ing a member engaging the slot; in said pieton extensions and shoulders upon seid 'ba -lever arranged to engage the shoulders on said piston wheny the'bal reaches e prede- 

